


Bad at Love

by have-a-little-laith (LWritesx)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Awkward Flirting, Bilingual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Explicit Language, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gen, Happy Ending, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Idiots in Love, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Internal Conflict, Internalized Homophobia, Keith & Matt Holt Friendship, Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance & Allura Friendship, M/M, Major Original Character(s), Multi, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Original Character(s), Orphan Keith (Voltron), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Pining Keith (Voltron), Single Parent Keith, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Teacher Lance, The Author Regrets Nothing, awkward boys, happy endings everywhere
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-06 15:54:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13414614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LWritesx/pseuds/have-a-little-laith
Summary: he can feel his heart beat just a little bit faster when he sees the small smile on Lance's face as he talks to Rhea. he's stooped to her level, and she places a hand over her mouth, smothering her own giggles as he wrinkles his nose, endearingly.  keith has to hold back his own smile because, fuck, no, he can't be feeling these feelings no matter how pretty Lance is, or no matter how much Lance makes him laugh, or no matter how good he is with kids. he's his daughter's teacher for crying out loud. he can't be feeling these feelings. why was he always so bad at love?Keith Kogane hasn't had an easy life. No matter what he does, he just can't seem to catch a break. And to make things worse, his six year old daughter is starting elementary school, and he can't help but feel a spark with her teacher from the day they meet.





	Bad at Love

**Author's Note:**

> oh, look who started another fic. why can't she finish her other ones first? The world will never know.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just a little look at the past, before everything came to be.

When Keith Kogane was ten years old, his parents left him at home to go out to dinner for their anniversary. They never came home. 

They'd been shot in a robbery, the police had said, And since Keith had no relatives in America, he was going to have to pack his things and come with them.

He never saw his childhood home again.

He'd been thrown into the system, wondering every day if he was ever going to find out what really happened to his mom and dad, or whether some family was going to take pity on his poor, unfortunate soul and adopt him, or even foster him. But the thing was, nobody wanted a kid as old as him, everybody wanted babies. 

As a result of this, the older orphans were cast aside. The staff of the home paid more attention to the babies and younger ones to the point where they neglected the older ones. They sometimes forgot to give them dinner (because they were too busy minding the babies), they didn't introduce them to the potential parents, and they even spent their funds to keep the babies up to mark, leaving the older ones with little to no personal items.

So yeah, his life hadn't been all that pleasant.

Which is why he wondered how the hell he'd gotten so lucky as to have the Shirogane family adopt him. 

Not only was the Shirogane family the founders and CEO's of Altea Tech Inc., one of the largest technology empires in the U.S., but they were kind, friendly and never laid a hand on him. They were Japanese-American, and they had a son, Takashi, whom Keith had admired since the day they first met. They always brought some type of present for him when they visited, be it a bag of candy, or a toy. They weren't looking for a baby, they were looking for an older child who could play with their son, and who would be able to take care of themself. Out of all the older ones in the orphanage, they _chose_ him. And Keith wasn't an easy kid to deal with, he knew that. He was like fire. Wild, temperamental and uncontrollable. Gorgeous to look at, dangerous if provoked.

So it was no surprised that he questioned why, every day.

Why he got the greatest gift he could ever ask for on his twelfth birthday when Rei Shirogane handed him the big yellow envelope to open when they visited? Why the envelope contained all the papers that made his adoption official? Why was he was now a Shirogane? Why he now had adopted parents who were going to care for him, and a big brother who he thought the world of?

There was only one answer really.

He was lucky. So. Very. Lucky.

Doesn't mean that he was ungrateful, though.

He couldn't hold back the tears of joy when he saw the official red stamps on the papers. He couldn't hold back the tears of joy as he raced to his old room and gathered up his little belongings.He couldn't hold back the tears of joy when he said goodbye to his few friends, nor when Rei and her husband, Sora, had bent to his level (he was short) and embraced him, while Takashi ruffled his black hair and insisted that Keith call him Shiro, nor when he entered the Shirogane family's Audi, nor when they stopped for ice cream to celebrate and Rei and Sora told Keith that he could have whatever he wanted.

He should have known it wouldn't last. Nothing he had ever lasted.

The year before it happened, he turned twenty. Since his birthday was in October, and he didn't really have the time to do anything, Rei and Sora decided to go on their annual vacation in June, claiming the trip to be his and Shiro's late birthday present. Shiro had taken over the position of CEO and was working hard. He deserved a break, and he was more than glad for it. However, some of his classmates at his university were ill, and he'd managed to pick it up, so he had to skip out. 

Keith told them to leave their daughter, Rhea, behind; he'd watch her for the two weeks while they went on vacation so that Shiro could spend some time alone with his wife, Haruka. The morning of the trip, he dropped them off at the airport. When he got home, he heated a cup of Ramen noodles and put Rhea in her pink bouncer. Then, he put on the TV and they both watched a movie. Rhea was a quiet one-year-old, she never gave trouble, she hardly ever cried and made noises. She just stared up at Keith with wide, innocent grey eyes as she cooed.

"Don't worry, Princess," he smiled at her, "They'll be home soon."

He saw it on TV two weeks and a few days later, the flight the Shiroganes were on went down. A wing caught fire. There were no survivors.

He sat there in shock, unable to process what he was seeing. As if sensing something was wrong, Rhea started bawling her little lungs out, sending up red flags in his head. His most important priority right now was Rhea, he knew that. On instinct, he picked her up immediately and started hushing her. 

"Shh, baby, I've got you, I've got you, and I'm not letting you go," he wasn't aware of what he was saying, because his mind was screaming at him _COMFORT HER. DON'T LET HER GO._

She started wailing louder.

Then it crossed his mind. Would they take her? What would happen to her? He knew he wasn't a biological relative of the Shirogane's but he was _family_. Could he a twenty year old college student take care of a baby? Would being family be enough for him to keep Rhea? 

Even if it wasn't, he was _not_ going to let the authorities take her. He was _not_ going to let her into the system. He'd fight tooth and nail to keep her if he had to.

The doorbell rang, shaking him out of his thoughts. His neighbours, the Holts, stood on the other side. Colleen Holt was distraught; she was Rei's best friend. 

"We'll figure it out," she whimpered, sniffing, as her husband wrapped an arm around her, "We'll figure it out, Keith. I promise."

Keith didn't doubt it. They _would_ figure it out, and they _would_ be okay.

Just not today.

 

 

 


End file.
